LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new organization is aiming to bring more film productions to Kentucky while offering resources to filmmakers across the state and educational events to filmmakers in Louisville.

Laura Morton told The Courier-Journal she and friend Blair Mackenzie started FLIK, which stands for Film Live in Kentucky, to “improve film opportunities” in the state. The organization's first big event is a conference on Saturday featuring experts on topics such as screenwriting, directing and producing.

Morton and Mackenzie said they hope the practical advice during the event will help local filmmakers either start work on a movie or finish one.

One of the speakers at the conference will be Louisville native Jamie Buckner, who has worked on movies and TV shows like “Elizabethtown,” “Julie & Julia,” “Treme” and “Premium Rush.”

“We all know the arts community in Louisville is amazingly supportive and we have a great talent base,” said Buckner. “It's just a matter of getting the right support from state incentives to bring in larger productions, but also to support the people in Kentucky working now so that people wouldn't have to do what I had to do and move away. I decided I wanted to make movies for a living, so I really had no option but to move to L.A. or New York.”

Morton has been in the film industry for 10 years, beginning in New York and continuing in Louisville, where she has worked on “2nd Serve” and the upcoming “Cantuckee.”

The two friends also hope to facilitate a monthly meeting of the local film community so that it is easier to network and share resources.

“There are so many talented people, so many passionate people, and yet you kind of feel alone,” Morton said. “We keep finding needs in the film community, and we're trying to find ways to meet those needs.”